A Mother and Son Talk
by davidtheumbreon
Summary: Cloudtail decided to be nice and take his adoptive mother, Brindleface, for a walk in the woods for a chat, and soon that chat went into something that was worrying Cloudtail.


It was quite peaceful in the forest, and Cloudtail thought it would be a good idea to bring his adoptive mother, Brindleface, to come with him for a walk to talk. It has been so long since the two could do anything, and the white tom wanted to be kind — no hunting or patrolling, just a time to talk, even if the call of prey was annoying to Cloudtail.

"Thank you so much for doing this, it has been a while since I left camp," Brindface meowed, her grey pelt being ruffled somewhat by the wind. Getting a quick nod from Cloudtail.

"Oh, it is nothing Brindleface, I thought you deserved it," Cloudtail responded, walking right next to Brindleface. The response getting a humoured purr from the elder she-cat. "Cloudtail, you can call me mom, just because I am not your true mother doesn't mean you can't call me that."

The tom felt embarrassed but shook away his feeling and purred back, "Yes, mom."

After they had a good chuckle, the grey she-cat couldn't help but notice that her adoptive son was looking down, and while he was now a warrior and not the kit she took care, her motherly instincts came up.

"What is the matter?"

Cloudtail shook himself out of his stupor and waved his tail around, trying to act like nothing is wrong. "Nothing, why do you ask?"

"Cloudtail, please, I know something is up," she went to his side and put his tail around him like a protective mother and brought him closer, "now what is it?"

The white-furred tome sighed as he felt his mother's fur and caring stare, "it is about Brightpaw."

"Oh, well, don't worry I am sure Bluestar will come to her sense and give her a name appropriate for a warrior like her," This caused Cloudtail fur to bristle and bare his teeth as he remembered the disgrace of a name Bluestar gave Brightpaw, Lostface. She already suffered enough from being attack and losing half her face and losing her friend to dogs, Bluestar had to make it worse by giving her that name. To this day, he refuses to call her that, and hope that Bluestar will change it.

The tom saw the worried look of his mother and calmed down. "No, it is not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I want to be Brightpaws mate and have kits with her," Brindleface beamed at this and nuzzled his cheek, purring as she did so.

"That is wonderful, I don't see what the issue is."

"Well," Cloudtail gulped, "what if I am a bad father?"

The grey she-cat understood what he was talking about and gave a warm look, "Cloudtail."

He continued, "What if I do something wrong? What if they don't love me? What if they get killed because I was too busy?"

He was stopped when Brindleface put her tail to his muzzle.

"Let me tell you something when I lost Elderkit and Tulipkit, I felt empty inside, but then Fireheart came with you, and the moment you began to suckle on me, I was feeling happy for the first time in days," Brindleface recollected and looked up at the sky.

"And every moment you got in trouble, and when you were captured by those twolegs, I wondered if I was a bad mother. But that all went away when I saw you become a warrior and helped Brightpaw after she was attacked, and rarely left her side while she was recovering," She looked back at her adoptive son, "you will be a great father when the time comes, I know this. Because I believe in you."

She and Cloudtail touched noses, and then parted from him. "let's go back to the camp, I am getting tired."

"Sure thing mom," Cloudtail got up and walked off, with Brindleface just ahead of him. The walk back was quiet, and Cloudtail wasn't sure, but he felt sad, like something horrible happened. He shook his head and meowed to himself, must be because of the talk.

Once they got back to camp, Brindleface turned to the white tom with a sombre expression, "Just know Cloudtail, that no matter what happens, I am very proud of you, and even though we are not related by blood, you are still my son," she sat down and curled her tail around her paws, and looking down, almost as if she was morning.

This caught Cloudtail off guard but replied back "Thanks mom, but why are you acting so strange all of a sudden?"

"Cloudtail! What happened!?" he was looking at the ground in front of Cloudtail, fear and sadness in his eyes.

"Calm down, Fireheart, I just had a chat with Mo- I mean Brindleface," Cloudtail explained, but what he got was nothing he expected from his mentor; instead, he got a look of worry.

"Cloudtail, I am so sorry," Fireheart whispered and turned away with his tail low.

The white tom turned to his adoptive mother to ask what was wrong with him, only to see nothing. Then he looked at the ground before him, his blue eyes widened in shock at what he saw; the corpse of Brindleface ruined by Tigerclaw.

He began to shake, his legs were feeling weak. It was coming back to him, he found her dead outside of camp, her throat torn open by Tigerclaw, and her bright green eyes once full of life, now devoid of that and he was bringing her back to camp. He wasn't chatting with his mother, he was moving a body. He yowled and laid down by her, no longer with the energy he once had.

The realization hit his mind, those words she spoke, everything, she never said any of that, she couldn't. Yet somewhere in his mind, he knew that she would say those words, and he promised that he would be a great father, and make her proud.


End file.
